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Self-exam kit cost-effective

Having had colon cancer followed by successful surgery, I read this story (reprinted from the Twin Cities’ Star Tribune) with interest.

My initial diagnosis was the result of self-examination using a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) kit supplied by Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital. The kit consisted of a swab stick in a plastic test tube with a brief instruction sheet.

It doesn’t take an accountant to calculate that sending a stool sample for analysis is a great deal more cost-effective than being subjected to a colonoscopy. That requires one doctor, two nurses, a disposable sedation drip, and then a hospital room full of specialized equipment for about 45 minutes. In my case, that was seven years ago.

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Seven years later, the Mayo Clinic is still challenging the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force before it can promote its own version of an FOBT kit.

The Mayo must get the medical insurance industry on side. Resistance to efficiency and effectiveness in the U.S. is not a medical matter. It’s a matter of commissions and fees.

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